The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a cavity of an oven having a steam generation.
It is known in the art that if foodstuffs are cooked in a cavity of an oven soiling by splatters or vapors may occur, particularly by spreading cooking liquids, fat or the like on the walls of the oven, particularly of the lateral walls, bottom, door, back fan cover and roof, of a cavity.
For a long time, there is a need for a time, cost and purpose efficient and, moreover, safe way for cleaning ovens and oven cavities from such soiling.
Several attempts are known in the art, which, however, still are dissatisfying.
As detergents specific for oven cleaning, typically, very aggressive substances have to be applied in order to achieve a sufficient cleaning capacity, especially if burnt and dehydrated soil has to be removed. Therefore, strong detergents are usually applied, e.g. high alkaline detergents, for example, based on sodium hydroxide or the like. In accordance therewith, the use of such detergents is known to be unpleasant and prone to health and safety risks.
Where the application of such cleaners is to be avoided, methods using the features of ovens, such as heating, are applied or the oven interior is designed for facilitated cleaning.
Known methods involve pyrolysis and catalytic panels. These known methods are relatively effective for removing soil from the interior surfaces of ovens, however, show considerable disadvantages.
Pyrolysis, for example, is a process where high temperature of up to about 500° C. burns away soil. However, pyrolysis requires a long process time, for example up to 1 hour, and a significant amount of energy to keep the high temperature over the process time, and, moreover, safety concerns impose to lock the door during the whole process.
Catalytic coatings are also well known in the art, however, the effectiveness and the duration of such layers is typically limited, and, moreover, aesthetic appearance is typically poor.
A well-known approach to ease the oven cleaning operations is the so-called steam soaking, where dirt is rehydrated and softened, by exposing it to water vapor, that can be generated simply by pouring water on the oven cavity bottom and heating up, or, using the oven steam generation system where available.
The document EP 1 557 612 A1 describes a system for introducing moisture into an oven for cleaning.
In this way, if the amount of soil is fairly low, gentle scrubbing is enough to remove dirt, even without the help of detergents. This approach is unluckily insufficient if soil amount is elevated or soil has been “baked” on the walls by repeated cooking cycles.